Socket adapter for ratchet wrench or torque wrench

ABSTRACT

A socket adapter for a ratchet wrench or a torque wrench that has plural ribs and rib spaces comprises:
         a hexahedral engaging portion, having a plurality of vertices and edges, further comprising an aperture positioned on the surface of an annular groove;   a socket attached to the bottom of the hexahedral engaging portion;   a metal elastic wire accommodated along the groove of said hexahedral engaging portion and encircling said interior wall and the metal elastic wire having an open end and a hook portion at the other end to grapple said aperture and further having at least a portion projecting from the surface of the hexahedral engaging portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a socket adapter for a ratchet wrenchor a torque wrench, and the disclosed socket adapter comprises ahexahedral engaging portion to be engaged with a ratchet of a ratchetwrench, wherein the hexahedral engaging portion has an annular groovewhere a metal elastic wire fits and wherein by means of the metalelastic wire, a three point fastening system is formed between thesocket adapter and the ratchet to facilitate fastening.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional socket adapter 10 is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 whichcomprises a hexahedral engaging portion 11 and a socket 12 attached tothe bottom end thereof.

An annular groove 13 is provided on the out surface of the hexahedralengaging portion 11 and accommodates a metal elastic wire 30 therein.Said metal elastic wire 30 is formed through bending a one-piece metalstick into a non-closed ringlike shape comprising a first elasticsection 31, a first bend 32, a second elastic section 33, a second bend34, a third elastic section 35, a third bend 36 and a fourth elasticsection 37 sequentially. Further, the first elastic section 31, secondelastic section 33, third elastic section 35 and fourth elastic section37 of the metal elastic wire 30 contact closely with the groove surface131 while the first bend 32, second bend 34 and third bend 36 radiallyprotrude from the non-adjacent three edges 112 of the hexahedralengaging portion 11.

However, since the metal elastic wire 30 in the prior art is elasticallyfit for but not fixed in the groove 13 of the hexahedral engagingportion 11, the bends 32, 34, 36 are not stationary but shiftable. Thus,when such conventional socket adapter 10 is assembled with a ratchetwrench or a torque wrench, the metal elastic wire 30 may shift under thepress and revolving force from the wrench and that in turn renders thebends 32, 34, 36 leaving their preset positions and being improperlydeformed by the pushing force from the ribs of the ratchet.Consequently, the metal elastic wire 30 would lose its resilience andfinally fail to secure the socket adapter 10 with the ratchet.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate another conventional socket adapter 10 havingan annular groove 13 and an O-shaped rubber ring 38 straps the surface131 of the groove 13. When the socket adapter 10 is assembled with aratchet wrench or a torque wrench, the O-shaped rubber ring 38 ispressed centripetally by the ribs of the wrench and then bounces toretain the hexahedral engaging portion 11 among the ribs of the wrench.Nevertheless, the O-shaped rubber ring 38 may be not durable and easilydamaged through repeated use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances inview and provides an improved securing construction of a socket adapterfor a ratchet wrench or a torque wrench that has plural ribs spaced byplural intervals. The disclosed socket adapter comprises:

a hexahedral engaging portion, having a plurality of vertices and edges,further comprising an annular groove with an aperture on the groovesurface thereof;

a socket attached to the bottom of the hexahedral engaging portion; and

a metal elastic wire fitting the groove of the hexahedral engagingportion with a open end and a hook portion at the other end to claspsaid aperture, and further having at least a portion projecting from thesurface of the hexahedral engaging portion.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a socket adapterfor a ratchet wrench or a torque wrench that the metal elastic wirethereof is stably positioned by not only fitting the groove of thehexahedral engaging portion but also clasping the aperture on the groovesurface to avoid sliding along the groove so that the first and secondbends thereof can be invariably retained at the preset positions toensure the fastening effect.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a socketadapter that can be assembled or disassemble with a ratchet wrench or atorque wrench easily by reason of the elastic flexibility of the metalelastic wire thereon. Since the metal wire has its open end freelyextendable while the hook portion at the other end clasping saidaperture, the same is therefore flexible to facilitate assembling anddisassembling works smooth and effort-saving.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a socketadapter that can be safely fastened to a ratchet wrench or a torquewrench under the effect of a three-point fastening system regarding tothe first bend, second bend and the edge of the hexahedral engagingportion where a relevant resultant forces acts on.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a socket adapterwith the metal elastic wire being easily formalized. The accuratemeasures such as the length and radian of the first, second and thirdelastic section and the bending angle of the first and second bends canbe decided by taking the hook portion of the metal wire as a datumpoint; according to the periphery of said groove surface and thevertices as well as the edge length of the hexahedral engaging portionand the rib as well as rib intervals of the wrench. Once thespecifications and conditions regarding said parts are verified, themetal elastic wire can be made accurately.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a socket adapterthat the aperture thereof is positioned corresponding to one of thevertices of the hexahedral engaging portion. Thereby, the open end ofthe third elastic portion of the metal wire thereof can be consequentlydefined as a bent hook portion to fit the aperture. Under suchdefinition, the constructing of the metal wire can be simplified.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a socketadapter that comprises a socket attached to the bottom of the hexahedralengaging portion wherein the socket has a hexahedral hole formed inwardand a retaining portion radially intrusive over the hexahedral hole.Thereby, the socket adapter of the present invention may allow a longscrew bolt to pass therethrough and contact a nut screwed at the bottomof the bolt to facilitate operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a conventional socket adapter with a metalelastic wire.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional transverse view of a conventional socketadapter with a metal elastic wire.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a conventional socket adapter with anO-shaped rubber ring.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional transverse view of a conventional socketadapter with an O-shaped rubber ring.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the socket adapter with a metal elasticwire according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional transverse view of the socket adapter with ametal elastic wire according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the socket adapter with a metal elasticwire according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along Line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective showing relativity between the disclosed socketadapter and a ratchet wrench.

FIG. 10 is a plane view showing the disclosed socket adapter combinedwith a ratchet wrench.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the socket adapter for a ratchet wrench or atorque wrench according to the present invention primarily comprises:

a hexahedral engaging portion 40, having six vertices 41 and six edges42, and further comprising an annular groove 43 with an aperture 44 onthe groove surface 431; wherein the aperture 44 is providedcorresponding to one of the vertices 41 of the hexahedral engagingportion 40; and a socket 50 attached to the bottom of the hexahedralengaging portion 40, interiorly having a hexahedral hole 51, a retainingedge 52 around the top end of the hexahedral hole 51 and a round hole 45inside the hexahedral engaging portion 40 led to said hexahedral hole51; and

a metal elastic wire 60 accommodated in the groove 43 of said hexahedralengaging portion 40 which comprises a first elastic section 61 with anopen end 62 and connected to a second elastic section 64 through a firstbend 63 and the second elastic section 64 further connected to a thirdelastic section 66 through a second bend 65 and the end of the thirdelastic section 66 formed as a hook portion 67.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the metal elastic wire 60 is seen in thegroove 43 of said hexahedral engaging portion 40 with the hook portion67 grappling said aperture 44, and the first, second as well as thirdelastic sections 61, 64, 66 contacting closely with the surface 431 ofthe groove 43 under a centripetal pressure while the first and secondbends 63, 65 respectively projecting from two of the edges 42 of thehexahedral engaging portion 40.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, the hexahedral engaging portion 40 of the presentinvention is now assembled with the ratchet 21 of a ratchet wrench 20and the vertices of the hexahedral engaging portion 40 are respectivelyengaged in the rib intervals 22. At that point, the first bend 63 andsecond bend 65 of the metal wire 60 storage the deformation energyduring being inlayed in the rib intervals 22 and then reposition topress against the ribs 23 so as to form two fastening points. Thus, themutual thrusts between the bend 63, 65 and the ribs 23 of the wrenchcauses the second elastic section 64 to press on the surface 431 of thegroove 43. Thus, the hexahedral engaging portion 40 receives a lateralthrust parallel to a radial direction, so that where the hexahedralengaging portion 40 receives the thrust, it is further pressed againstthe rib 23 to form a third fastening point. These three fastening pointsare indicated by the vertices of the dotted triangle in FIG. 10. As aresult, the hexahedral engaging portion 40 compresses the ribs 23 at theedge where a resultant force of said two thrusts acts on and form athree-point fastening system to fixedly fasten the socket adapter to theratchet 21 of the wrench 20.

By means of the described structure, the disclosed metal wire 60 isstably positioned by not only fitting the groove of the hexahedralengaging portion 40 but also clasping the aperture 44, to avoid slidingalong the groove 43. Therefore, the first and second bends 63, 65thereof may permanently respectively project from non-adjacent two edgesof the hexahedral engaging portion 40 without shift. Even under repeatedassembling or disassembling the hexahedral engaging portion 40 with thewrench 20, the relative positions of the bends 63, 65 of the metal wire60 against the hexahedral engaging portion 40 can keep constant.

The disclosed metal wire 60 is designed to fit the groove of thehexahedral engaging portion 40 and grasp the aperture 44 so that one endthereof is fixed while the other end is freely extendable to facilitateassembling or disassembling the hexahedral engaging portion 40 with theratchet 21. For instance, during assembling the hexahedral engagingportion 40 with the ratchet 20 of a wrench 21, the ribs 23 of theratchet 20 compress the metal wire 60, and this conducts the open end 62thereof moving toward the hook portion 67 at the fixed end for apredetermined distance. Buffing of said predetermined distance permitsthe bends 63, 65 radially moving toward the core of the hexahedralengaging portion 40 but not circularly shifting along the grove 43.Thereupon, the deformation of the metal wire 60 can be accuratelycontrolled as radial contract to ensure the hexahedral engaging portion40 being sleeved by the ratchet 21 smooth.

As said metal elastic wire 60 is elastically extendable, it permits auser to assemble the hexahedral engaging portion 40 with a ratchetwrench or a torque wrench easily and vice versa.

The disclosed metal elastic wire 60 is easily formalized with accuratemeasures such as the length and radian of the first, second and thirdelastic sections 61, 64, 66 and the bending angle of the first andsecond bends 63, 65 by taking the hook portion 67 of the metal wire 60as a datum point; according to the periphery of said groove surface 431and the vertices 41 as well as the edge 42 length of the hexahedralengaging portion 40 and the rib 23 as well as rib intervals 22 of thewrench. Once the specifications and conditions regarding said parts areverified, the metal elastic wire can be made accurately with less errorrate.

The aperture 44 is positioned corresponding to one of the vertices 41 ofthe hexahedral engaging portion 40. Thereby, the end of the thirdelastic portion 66 of the metal wire 60 can be consequently defined as abent hook portion 67 to fit the aperture 44. Under such definition, theconstructing of the metal wire 60 can be simplified. Through theexperiments conducted by the inventor, it is learned that an aperture 44not positioned corresponding to one of the vertices 41 renders theEuclidean distance between the open end 62 and hook portion 67excessively short or long and this in turn undesirably affects theelastic flexibility of the metal elastic wire 60. Thus, the inventor hasthe conclusion that the most preferable position of the aperture 44 tobe arranged is about one of the vertices 41 of the hexahedral engagingportion 40.

A socket 50 is attached to the bottom of the hexahedral engaging portion40, which has a hexahedral hole 51 formed inward, a retaining portion 52radially intrusive over the hexahedral hole 51. The hexahedral engagingportion 40 further has a round hole 45 axially passing therethrough andled to said hexahedral hole 51. Thereby, the socket adapter of thepresent invention may allow a long screw bolt to pass therethrough andcontact a nut screwed at the bottom of the bolt to facilitate operation.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described indetail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that numerous variations will be possible tothe disclosed embodiments without going outside the scope of theinvention as disclosed in the claims.

1. A socket adapter for a ratchet wrench or a torque wrench that hasplural ribs and rib intervals, comprising: a hexahedral engagingportion, having six vertices and six edges, further comprising anannular groove with an aperture positioned at a groove surface; a socketattached to the bottom of the hexahedral engaging portion; a metalelastic wire accommodated in the groove of said hexahedral engagingportion and contacting closely with the groove surface, which has anopen end and a hook portion at the other end to grapple said apertureand further has at least a portion projecting from the surface of thehexahedral engaging portion.
 2. The socket adapter as claimed in claim1, wherein the metal elastic wire is formed by bending a one-piece metalstick into the shape comprising successively a first elastic sectionadjacent to said open end, a first bend, a second elastic section, asecond bend, and a third elastic section adjacent to said hook portion.3. The socket adapter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first bend andsecond bend protrude from two of the edges of the hexahedral engagingportion.
 4. The socket adapter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the firstelastic section, second elastic section respectively have at least partthereof closely contacted with the groove surface of said groove.
 5. Thesocket adapter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aperture is alignedwith one of the vertices of the hexahedral engaging portion.
 6. Thesocket adapter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the interior angle of thefirst and second bends are slightly greater than the included anglebetween each two adjacent ribs, of the rachet wrench or the torquewrench that the socket adapter is to be assembled with.
 7. (canceled) 8.The socket adapter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the socket interiorlyhas a hexahedral hole and a retaining edge over the top end thereof andfurther a round hole axially runs through the hexahedral engagingportion and led to said hexahedral hole.
 9. A combination of a socketadapter and a wrench, comprising: a ratchet wrench or a torque wrenchhaving plural ribs and plural rib intervals; a socket adaptercomprising: a hexahedral engaging portion, having six vertices and sixedges, further comprising an annular groove with an aperture positionedat a groove surface; a socket attached to the bottom of the hexahedralengaging portion; a metal elastic wire accommodated in the groove ofsaid hexahedral engaging portion and contacting closely with the groovesurface, which has an open end and a hook portion at the other end tograpple said aperture and further has at least a portion projecting froma surface of the hexahedral engaging portion; wherein the metal elasticwire is formed by bending a one-piece metal stick into the shapecomprising successively a first elastic section adjacent to said openend, a first bend, a second elastic section, a second bend, and a thirdelastic section adjacent to said hook portion; wherein when thehexahedral engaging portion is assembled with a ratchet wrench or atorque wrench, the vertices of the hexahedral engaging portion arerespectively engaged in the rib intervals, and simultaneously, athree-point fastening system is formed between the socket adapter andthe ratchet wheel of the wrench, wherein the three-point fasteningsystem is regarding the bends of the metal elastic wire and an edge of ahexahedral engaging portion where a relevant resultant forces acts on.